http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Researchers at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center have figured out how ATP is broken down in cells, providing for the first time a clear picture of the key reaction that allows cells in all living things to function and flourish. http://phys.org/news186584297.html Chemistry Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:11 EST news186584297 Researchers at Albany Medical College are releasing results of a study this week that they say will help refocus the search for new drug targets aimed at preventing or reversing the devastating tissue inflammation that results after heart attack and stroke. http://phys.org/news186584393.html Chemistry Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:06 EST news186584393 Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer's disease. http://phys.org/news186253105.html Chemistry Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:20:02 EST news186253105 (PhysOrg.com) -- Knowing the structure of an enzyme essential to the protozoan parasite that causes African sleeping sickness may lead to new drugs to combat the often-fatal disease and several other related disorders that afflict millions of people around the world. http://phys.org/news186251639.html Chemistry Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:34:29 EST news186251639 Scientists are reporting the first-ever data to show that the enzyme calcineurin is critical in controlling normal development and function of heart cells, and that loss of the protein leads to heart problems and death in genetically modified mice. http://phys.org/news185798488.html Chemistry Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:10:01 EST news185798488 In a new approach to developing treatments for breast cancer, prostate cancer and enlarged hearts, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers are zeroing in on a workhorse protein called RSK. http://phys.org/news184938495.html Chemistry Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:48:33 EST news184938495 Medical College of Georgia researchers are seeking to refine cancer treatment with an anti-inflammatory plant derivative long used in Chinese medicine. http://phys.org/news184436824.html Chemistry Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:27:20 EST news184436824 Scientists have long known that high blood sugar levels from diabetes damage blood vessels in the eye, but they didn't know why or how. Now a Michigan State University scientist has discovered the process that causes retinal cells to die, which could lead to new treatments that halt the damage. http://phys.org/news184247845.html Chemistry Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:10:01 EST news184247845 In a study to be published this week, a research team is challenging a prevailing belief about the behavior of a human protein linked to the formation of cancer, possibly breathing new life into the search for therapies that will inhibit that protein from "turning on" genes involved in abnormal cell proliferation. http://phys.org/news183642569.html Chemistry Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:55:26 EST news183642569 In a surprising finding, researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered the critical importance of a protein previously believed to be a redundant "on switch" for certain immune-system responses. http://phys.org/news183303274.html Chemistry Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:50:01 EST news183303274 A new study by a research team at Uppsala University shows how new functions can develop in an enzyme. This can explain, for example, how resistance to toxins can occur so simply. The findings are now being published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. http://phys.org/news183105244.html Chemistry Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:00:02 EST news183105244 Most skin cancers are highly curable, but require surgery that can be painful and scarring. http://phys.org/news182782332.html Chemistry Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:52:43 EST news182782332 After many years of study, a team of researchers is releasing data today that it hopes will lead to new drug therapies that will kill the family of parasites that causes a deadly trio of insect-borne diseases and has afflicted inhabitants of underdeveloped and developing nations for centuries. http://phys.org/news182778699.html Chemistry Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:52:18 EST news182778699 Studying genes that regulate early heart development in animals, scientists have solved a puzzle about one gene's role, finding that it acts in concert with a related gene. Their finding contributes to understanding how the earliest stages of heart development may go awry, resulting in congenital heart defects in humans. http://phys.org/news182519519.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:52:37 EST news182519519 Researchers at University College London say they have gleaned a key insight into the molecular beginnings of age-related macular degeneration, the No. 1 cause of vision loss in the elderly, by determining how two key proteins interact to naturally prevent the onset of the condition. http://phys.org/news181825289.html Chemistry Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:30:01 EST news181825289 Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have discovered a new agent that might inhibit the infectivity of HIV. The agent, surfen, impairs the action of a factor in semen that greatly enhances the viral infection. Surfen might be used to supplement current HIV microbicides to greatly reduce HIV transmission during sexual contact. http://phys.org/news181825356.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:18:36 EST news181825356 A team of researchers is being recognized for devising a new way to study a human protein that long has evaded close scrutiny by scientists investigating its role in the communication of important genetic messages inside a cell's nucleus to workhorse molecules found elsewhere. http://phys.org/news181825149.html Chemistry Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:10:18 EST news181825149 (PhysOrg.com) -- A pair of University of Massachusetts Amherst chemists believe they have for the first time explained how the main players in transcription -- RNA polymerase, RNA (red in illustration) and the DNA template (blue) -- come together and link tightly enough to create a stable complex while DNA unwinds to pass crucial genetic information to RNA, but not so tightly that they can't come apart easily once transcription is complete. This transcription process takes place in all cells and is essential for making the proteins that carry out almost every process important to life. http://phys.org/news181325837.html Chemistry Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:17:56 EST news181325837 (PhysOrg.com) -- Brookhaven scientists have created a new enzyme with the potential to interfere with a key cell-wall component in plants, possibly leading to plants that are easier to "digest" and convert to biofuels. http://phys.org/news180624203.html Chemistry Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:24:01 EST news180624203 A team of researchers studying the protein that, when defective or absent, causes cystic fibrosis (CF) has made an important discovery about how that protein is normally controlled and under what circumstances it might go awry. http://phys.org/news180339751.html Chemistry Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:40:01 EST news180339751 A gene commonly studied by cancer researchers has been linked to the metabolic inflammation that leads to diabetes. http://phys.org/news179776847.html Chemistry Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:02:19 EST news179776847 (PhysOrg.com) -- Evolution places the highest premium on reproduction, natural selection’s only standard for biological success. In the case of replicating cells, life spares no expense to ensure that the offspring is a faithful copy of the parent. Researchers have identified a new player in this elaborate system of quality control, a gene whose mutation can cause a rare but lethal disease. http://phys.org/news179522040.html Biology Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:30:01 EST news179522040 Case Western Reserve University researchers, from the School of Medicine's Department of Nutrition, discovered two new metabolic pathways by which products of lipid peroxidation and some drugs of abuse, known as 4-hydroxyacids, are metabolized. http://phys.org/news179171179.html Chemistry Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:46:41 EST news179171179 A major discovery is challenging accepted thinking about amyloids - the fibrous protein deposits associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - and may open up a potential new area for therapeutics. http://phys.org/news179133945.html Chemistry Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:00:01 EST news179133945 Scientists have crystallised a protein that may help gut bacteria bind to the gastrointestinal tract. The protein could be used by probiotic producers to identify strains that are likely to be of real benefit to people. http://phys.org/news178285643.html Chemistry Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:01 EST news178285643 A key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, in a study appearing in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers in Italy have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water. http://phys.org/news177945116.html Chemistry Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:12:36 EST news177945116 (PhysOrg.com) -- It’s a naturally occurring brain chemical with an unwieldy name: 4-hydroxybutyrate (4-HB). Taken by mouth, it can be abused or used as a date-rape drug. http://phys.org/news177862223.html Chemistry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:11:12 EST news177862223 The immune system's T cells have the unique responsibilities of being both jury and executioner. They examine other cells for signs of disease, including cancers or infections, and, if such evidence is found, rid them from the body. Precisely how T cells shift so swiftly from one role to another, however, has been a mystery. http://phys.org/news176390808.html Chemistry Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:20:02 EST news176390808 Scientists at the University of York have uncovered the structure of an unusual enzyme which can be used to reverse the contamination of land by explosives. http://phys.org/news174302821.html Chemistry Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:27:31 EST news174302821 A Purdue University researcher has discovered that the absence of certain proteins needed for proper cell duplication can lead to cancer. http://phys.org/news173969394.html Chemistry Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:00:06 EST news173969394